If you’ve been watching sports events on Fox the past few weeks, you might have wondered what was up with the odd, pale, bald man lurking around the periphery. (And no, it’s not Jay Glazer - this guy has better suits.) It turns out that he isn’t just a creepy version of Rainbow Wig man who just happens to be at every sporting event - he’s a character on one of Fox’s shows and part of one of the weirdest cross-promotional ideas Fox has had (and that’s saying something).

As you can tell, the announcers are acting oblivious that a freaky looking bald man is staring blankly at the pits during the race. (Usually, the fans staring blankly at the pits during a NASCAR race are just hammered, and they prefer Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirts and cut-offs to three-piece suits.) It’s all part of Fox’s plans to engage in some long-term viral marketing and keep things as hush-hush and secretive as possible - internally, Fox executives are calling the campaign “Where’s Baldo?”

Perhaps the program is working: “Fringe” has seen its ratings go up substantially in the last few episodes, although that might have something to do with Fox moving the show to the plum time slot directly after “American Idol.” However, the show hasn’t been picked up for a second season yet, so there’s a chance this all might lead to nothing.

Personally, I hope this all leads to a giant payoff at the end where The Observer uses his supernatural powers to finally destroy the Dancing Robot from the NFL broadcasts once and for all. Or short of that, Frank Caliendo. It really is the least they could do after all this hype.

This entry was posted
on Thursday, April 16th, 2009 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Sports Business , Media .
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